Laced With Grace

One million one, one million two, one million three…

As I counted I surveyed the area around me. The beautiful sandy beach stretched on for miles and miles. Then I looked at the little pile of sand in front of me, it could barely fill a sandwich bag.

It was at this point in the face of my insurmountable task that I finally threw my hands in the air and shouted “I give up!!!”

I knew then as I knew when I began that my mission was impossible, not Tom Cruise impossible but really impossible. There were not hours enough in the day or days enough in my remaining time on earth to count the grains of sand on this one beach in the Bahamas so the world…? I think not.

Did this really happen? Not a chance. I don’t have patience enough to count one hundred grains of sand. However the picture of doing so came to mind when I read the following verses from Psalm.

17 How precious are your thoughts about me,[a] O God.
They cannot be numbered!
18 I can’t even count them;
they outnumber the grains of sand!
And when I wake up,
you are still with me!
Psalm 139:17-18 (NLT)

How precious is that scripture to me right now. I’m sure I’ve read it hundreds of time over the years since I absolutely love the Psalms. However this last time it lingered. I thought about it through the day. In fact at this moment I’m at work and I’m meditating on these verses. My students are writing in their journals and I’m drafting this post in mine.

God thinks this much about me, about you, about us. From before the foundation of the earth to this very moment our heavenly father has had us on his mind.  If I can be absolutely sure about one thing it is this, his thoughts about us are always for our benefit.

Today I feel totally warm and fuzzy inside just thinking about God thinking about me… How are you doing today?

Be blessed,
Bernadine

“God knows where you are, and He can get you to where He wants you to be.”

He began his sermon with those words, and I knew it was an answer to the cry of my heart.

If life is divided into seasons, I am in the winter of my life. The nest is empty. My days look very different from the days when three children filled the rooms with noise and things and love. I don’t have nearly the time I imagined I would – for the days seem to fill of their own accord. But I do have more hours to call my own.

I pray and look back and wonder if I’ve followed the course He set for me long before I drew my first breath. Did I find the place He created me to fill or did I somehow miss it? And what of this season? What is it I’m supposed to be doing? Don’t let me miss it Lord.

My tendency is to wander back into the past and pick up a burden of guilt and regret. The gentle words of my Pastor came like a gift. The Lord knows exactly where I am, and He will faithfully bring me to the place He has for me. Perhaps it will mean staying right where I am, or it may mean a new door will open. My part is to faithfully walk with Him right where He has me now and trust that He is in control.

I think of Jonah. The Father had a plan, but it wasn’t to Jonah’s liking. He did his best to run from the Lord. It was futile. Even if it takes a terrible storm and a huge whale, He will get us where He wants us to be.

I am thankful and filled with wonder that He would love me enough to have a plan and purpose for my life – in every season. He has one for you too. Even when we accidentally step off the path or determinedly go our own way – He will get us to where He wants us to be.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”
Jeremiah 29:11

Blessings,

Linda

Photo: courtesy of  photobucket

It’s almost time to plant. Here in Texas the trees are beginning to leaf out. On my walk the other day I saw sunny, yellow daffodils in a neighbor’s yard. So soon I will be digging in the dirt to add some color to our place.

If you are a gardener, then you know that gardening is not a one-time task. It’s a continual process. First you plant, water, and fertilize. Then you weed and pluck spent blooms. Then you water and fertilize. Then you weed and pluck spent blooms. Then you…

Yes, the plants are growing and blooming. The beds become increasingly beautiful. But the process is never quite complete.

It is the same with our spiritual growth. Even before God saved us, He purposed that we would look like Jesus. When we’re saved the transformation process begins. This is not a one-time event but a continual process.

¹ And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. ² Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

Romans 12:1-2, NLT

Grammatically, “transform” in verse 2 above refers to an ongoing change of condition and form. And while only the Holy Spirit can actually bring spiritual transformation, we must cooperate with Him. For us, it means an ongoing renunciation of the world and its ways and a renewal to God’s thinking and ways.

So, how’s the garden coming? Let’s pick up the spade and the pruning shears, get on our knees and get to work.